A TEENAGE thug who subjected a Litherland family to a series of assaults and intimidation has been ordered to take part in a course of electro-acupuncture.

The 17-year-old boy, also from Litherland, carried out two attacks on the family on October 7, 2012, before damaging a window and door on their property.

The teenager also circled the family’s house on a bike, stared at the family and ‘then approached with weapons’ in behaviour that was designed to intimidate a witness.

But despite the seriousness of the offences the teenager avoided detention and was instead made the subject of a youth rehabilitation order.

Magistrates imposed a two-month curfew on the boy, under which he cannot leave his home between 9pm and 7am.

In addition to the curfew, the teenager will also be required to attend six sessions of electro-acupuncture – a form of therapy where an acupuncture needle delivers a painless small electrical charge.

Although more commonly used for pain management, the treatment is thought by some scientists to be effective in relaxing the patient by reducing levels of a protein linked to chronic stress.

Research carried out on rats has shown that acupuncture can relieve the response to acute stress, resulting in constriction of blood flow to all parts of the body except to the heart, lungs and brain (the organs most needed to react to danger).

The unusual measures are part of a multi-million pound nationwide scheme designed to give young offenders ‘self-esteem and confidence’.

As part of the project, thousands of children aged between ten and 19 have been treated with massages, acupuncture and healing techniques to reduce crime and drug abuse.

A spokesman for Sefton Council said: "Electro-acupuncture is a non intrusive service often available to young people to help manage stress and/or anger issues.

"The service is usually delivered by our accredited substance misuse workers and it is commonly identified as a requirement as part of a Youth Rehabilitation Order issued through the courts.

"Before it is used, the simple procedure is clearly explained to young people and their families and it has a high success rate along with other aspects of the Youth Offending Team service delivery."

The UK is completely broken. The hug-a-thug thing has gone WAY too far.

The justice system needs to be evidence based and if these methods can reduce reoffending rates and protect the victims of crime without the need for incarceration—which is incredibly costly and does little to address the core problem—then they should be pursued. It's all very well sitting on the sidelines, demanding tough prison sentences but often they are not in the best interests of society. For instance, people jailed for less than 12 months reoffend at a higher rate than those given Suspended Sentence Orders (SSOs) and Community Orders (COs) - being 'tough on crime' is therefore often counter-productive.

It's better than the Judge Dredd-style policing that takes place in the US, with people shot dead in the streets if they dare resist arrest—or even if they don't—and given ridiculous sentences for minor drug offences. The US has demonstrated that tough sentences don't work - even with the death penalty the US still has more murders than any EU country (with the exception of Estonia and Lithuania) and most Asian countries, in most cases around 300-400% higher. It has the highest incarceration rate in the world yet still has the 18th highest robbery rate by country. Being tough on crime appeals to conservatives who like to define everything in simplistic, binary terms—good or evil; right or wrong—and demand retribution, particularly the Biblical style an-eye-for-an-eye justice. Those who are less emotional and more objective favour an evidence based approach, as imperfect as it may be.